


Keep moving forward...

by Alexis_universe



Series: Orphan Connie AU [3]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen, Grieving, Strawberries, moving forward
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-12
Updated: 2017-02-12
Packaged: 2018-09-23 22:12:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9681710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alexis_universe/pseuds/Alexis_universe
Summary: Garnet teaches Connie how to make the nightmares go away.





	

Night terrors aren't a good experience.

Especially when those terrors include graphic depictions of the most scarring moment in your life interrupting your sleep.

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Connie was sleeping soundly in her bedroom, the sound of the waves crashing down on the distant sand were drowned by the gentle breath of the sleeping girl.

Or that was until she began to spasm around he bedsheets, letting out small whimpers of pain while her skin began to glisten with sweat. She was having another nightmare.

Thankfully, the unpleasant event lasted for an scarce minute, ending with the girl gasping for breath as she sprang up from her position with her eyes wide as plates.

She remained sitting for a few seconds before a deep voice adressed her.

"You were having a nightmare." The voice said, making Connie to look around the dark room for its owner until she saw a tall figure a few feet away from her and next to the door.

She let out a sigh of relief when she recognised the figure as Garnet.

"Garnet?" Connie said drowsily, her energy drained from all the moving around her bed. "What're you doing here?"

"You've been with us for half-year now, Connie." The gem stated. "And during that time, you've spoke about the incident a total of three times..."

She got closer to the bed and turned on the lamp on the nightstand, lighting the room so the girl could see her properly.

"...And had three episodes of night terrors per week." The gem concluded. 

"What does that have to do with my question Garnet?" The girl asked.

"We promised to help you with them." The gem answered. "And it's past time for us to help you."

"Oh... I see." Connie said, her eyes began to burn due to exhaustion.

"We don't have to do this right now, y'know." Garnet said. "You're the one who decides when to start."

"Thanks, Garnet." Connie said, overcome by tiredness. "Let's do that tomorrow, then..." She let out a yawn before laying on her bed and slowly drift away into sleep.

Garnet looked at the girl through her ever-present shades. She reached out for her blanket and proceeded to tuck her in.

She decided to keep her company through the night.

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The following morning was one of the few occasions when everyone was in the temple.

Pearl was teaching Steven and Connie how make a French toast. While Steven had a nice going with his bread, Connie managed to burn three of them by mistake. Thankfully for her, Amethyst was more than willing to eat her mistakes until an actually edible toast came to be.

Steven awaited for Connie to make her perfect breakfast, ignoring how cold it had gotten. Pearl and Garnet looked at the kids enjoying their treats while Amethyst ate up the garbage from the garbage can.

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Later, that afternoon, the sky darkened by rainclouds as the makeshift family scattered once again to do their own business. 

Pearl and Amethyst had been sent to some place on a mission, and Garnet had retreated into her room in the temple, leaving the kids alone for a few hours until Steven decided to visit his dad before the rain started to fell.

Connie had gone to her room to retrieve a coat from her wardrobe. She thought it would come in handy as the sky's dark clouds meant that it could've begin to precipitate at any moment.

She left the bedroom with a deep blue overcoat of her size and found Garnet standing on the hall leading to the living room.

"Hey, Garnet!" She greeted the gem. "I'm going with Steven to visit Mr. Universe at the carwash." She slipped past the gem's ample thighs, looking for her friend. "I think he already left."

"I told him to go ahead without you." Garnet said in her monotonous voice.

"What?!" The girl said scandalized. "Why?!"

"We two have a more important business between us, young girl. Remember?" The gem said.

"Huh?" Connie said before remembering the small conversation they had last night. "Oh... Yeah... Sorry I forgot."

"S'okay." The woman said as she strode towards the warp pad in front of the temple's door. "We all forget stuff all the time."

She beckoned Connie next to her side on the crystalline pad and holded her close to her as the pad lighted up.

"WHAT'S GOING ON!!??" Connie yelled as the light shot upwards, engulfing her and Garnet in a weightless stream of light.

"We're traveling to Scandinavia via warp pad." The gem answered.

"Why!?" The girl asked.

"You'll see in a few moments." The other one replied.

In less than a minute, gravity reasserted itself as the light faded into the ground. Connie would have landed on her face if it weren't for Garnet holding her next to her.

Connie raised her head to see at the new environment; She was surrounded by a vast expansion of green bushes dotted with humongous strawberries, with swords and axes and morningstars littering the landscape, a faint glimmer of moonlight was reflected from the steel that still hadn't been covered by the vines of the bushes. A large, inverted pyramidal structure was recognizable in the distance, as well that some floating islands far away in the sky.

"Where are we?" Connie said in awe.

"We are at the Strawberry battlefields." Garnet said as she stepped down the pad. "As the name suggests, this place was once a battlefield were a great battle was fought."

Connie took a tentative step away from the pad and received the instruction to follow Garnet.

"I guess that explains the weapons..." She said, trying to not say something about the size of the ancient objects.

"Yeah, it does." She said.

The pair kept walking until they reached a small clearing with grass instead of dirt. The gem sat down on the grass with her legs crossed and beckoned the girl to sit down with her.

"So... How is this going to help me out with the night terrors?" Connie asked as she copied Garnet's position.

The gem didn't answered immediately. She just sat there, staring at her through her shades. She looked at the landscape around her before she spoke again.

"You are like us." She said.

"What do you mean?" The girl asked, not understanding the answer.

"Though the time and situations are different, we share a lot of things in common." Garnet said. "We have lost persons we love, and underwent traumatic experiences and survived."

"However, We had Steven's mother by our side, and that helped us to overcome those problems." Garnet continued. "Now, it's time for us to do the same for you."

Connie stared at Garnet's shades, looking at her hoping reflection on them.

"The first step in doing so, is to think about what happened." The gem said. "If you don't express those thoughts, they will begin to consume you, and given the moment, they'll just hinder you."

Connie nodded in acknowledgement.

"The second one is far more important." The woman continued. "While thinking about that is the best solution to your problem, there's one thing you should always keep in mind: You mustn't do it alone." Garnet leant forwards the girl. "You must have someone who cares about you, someone willing to take a part of the weight over your shoulders until there's almost nothing left."

"But then you'll end up carrying my problems." Connie said.

"That may be true, but if that person is willing to step in and help you for the sake of seeing you happy, then there's not going to be any problem at all." The gem stood up and walked towards the girl. "We want to see you happy Connie, and we must know how you feel so we can help you to move forward." She placed a hand over the girl's shoulder. "So please, don't be afraid of talking to us. If you do so, then the pain you locked away will grow bigger and bigger until it turns to be unbearable."

"Garnet..." The girl said.

"But we can't do this right now" Garnet said "The others will return to the house in a few hours." She offered her hand to Connie so help her stand up. "We should return to the temple before them."

"Oh, okay." Connie said. "But can I ask you something before?"

Garnet hummed her a yes while nodding.

"Why did you brought me to this place when you could tell me this in the temple?" The girl asked.

The gem made a humming noise and while extending her right hand's palm upwards. The triangle-faceted gem resting on it glowed brightly for a second, a figure made of light escaped from the gemstone surface and then changed into a small picnic basket.

"Steven told me that you like strawberries." Garnet said with a small grin before handing over the basket to the girl.

Connie smiled fondly at her and then took their time picking up the strawberries that grew next to the weapons littering the place under the bright moonlight.

Garnet also smiled in her way, as she saw that the possible futures where the girl opened up more and more began to overtake the ones where she saw her suffering under an eternal grief. 

The gem was taken out of her thoughts by the girl, who called for her help to pluck a notoriously big berry from its vine.

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From that point onwards, Connie never had another nightmare.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!   
> The next chapter will begin our little orphan's adventures with the gems.
> 
> Criticism is well appreciated!


End file.
